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AEW's Claudio Castagnoli has praised his wrestling mentor William Regal, who grew up in Codsall Wood, near Wolverhampton.

Regal, who used to watch World of Sport events at Wolverhampton's Civic Hall as a child, began his wrestling career in Blackpool in the 1980s. He moved to the United States in the '90s, where he competed and won championships in WCW and WWE. The 55-year-old retired from active competition in 2013 and had his last professional wrestling bout was against Castagnoli in WWE's NXT.

Regal, whose real name is Darren Matthews, had a brief spell in AEW as a manager of the Blackpool Combat Club; named in tribute to the Lancashire seaside town where his wrestling roots were sown. While Regal is back working behind the scenes in WWE, the stable lives on with Castagnoli a member, along with Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson and Wheeler Yuta.

The Swiss grappler also spoke to us about competing what it was like to compete in a Stadium Stampede match - where falls count anywhere - at AEW All In at Wembley Stadium earlier this year. The event attracted a world record paid crowd for professional wrestling of more than 80,000 fans and All In will return to London on 25th August 2024.

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